A success of a different sort

If you haven't figured it out by now, I ran a road race this morning. The B.A.A. 5K (3.1 miles) ran through Boston's Back Bay neighborhood and up the steep side of Beacon Hill to the Massachusetts State House. This was my third year running this race. In the past, I ran my fastest 5K time on this course. Usually, on this course, I'm running my little heart out and end up feeling nauseous. Not today. Today, I started feeling a cramp under my right-side rib cage around mile 1. I tightened up my abs and ran it off. No pain, no gain.

Post-run bliss? Not likely. But I did it!!! I kept a decent pace, didn't walk any of the route and finished faster than I thought I would. A total success!

Need a food related reason for a success? Ok. I have a really hard time gauging what, when and how much to eat before running. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of advice for you on this other than don't over do it! I usually try to eat some fruit and protein (usually yogurt) about an hour to two hours before running. I don't want it still in my tummy when I'm running. I do, however, eat. Many people do not eat before an early run. Me? I'm human, my body needs some energy to be able to run for multiple miles.

Best advice though? Always. Always. Always pee and poop BEFORE running. If you don't do it before (and sometimes even if you do), you will need to during. Longer races provide facilities along the route...not a 5K though. Long or short race, you may want to bring your own TP...

Anyway, I got the food right this morning. I peed before running. I didn't poop, but I got lucky and didn't feel the need to until several hours later. It was a successful race!

Fairly standard breakfast, but without the egg. You'll notice that at home, I buy lactose-free milk. No, I'm not lactose intolerant. Lactose free milk keeps for much longer than regular milk and I just don't use a lot of milk at home.

Post-race food!!! Yeah, I ate the whole thing. No cream cheese or anything like that. At the Tufts 10K they provide cream cheese, but not at the B.A.A. 5K.

Bear Naked Granola (SUGAR!!!! but like 5th or 6th on the ingredient list) and an actual sugar-free fruit roll-up type thing. I ate two of each. The fruit thingy was actually really yummy! I've never seen this brand before, however, if you or someone you love eats this sort of thing, look for this kind. I meant to keep a wrapper for writing this, but tossed it and took out the trash. Sorry.

It was a full plate of nachos before I took the picture...

Interesting dinner concoction--2 chicken tenders, penne, diced tomatoes (canned), butter beans, onions, steamed broccoi, and romano cheese. I added oregano, basil and garlic powder.

And here's how I satisfied my sugar craving tonight!
(and yes, I had popcorn tonight too)









Hmmmmm, I just noticed that the B.A.A. has a 10K race starting this year....